Not Human Enough
by SoapHeller
Summary: After 20 years having to fight in the Arena Eternal, Ranger finds himself in a new realm where insane humans fight a losing battle against Powers who seek to turn Reality into a perpetual demonic Chaos. Only desiring to get out and return home, he is forced to take care of a girl that should never have been born, as both try to survive in a dying galaxy. (LCB spin-off)
1. Beyond fake Redeption

**Well, if anyone ask why I wrote this, it is because I was not fond of some of the Doom/40K fanfics here and in other sites, so I decided to try my onw twist on it. (Which may or may not just awful)**

 **By the way, I wrote this first in 4chan's /tg/ board. Obviously edited to the format of this very site.**

 **Oh, and I hate doing this, but reminder that Warhammer belongs to Games Workshop and Quake belongs to Bethesda.**

* * *

 _Once upon a time, there was a Queen who was loved by her people. Her kingdom was large and vast, and was the closest thing, no, it was heaven on earth. Songs were made on her honor; the lyrics used her message of unity and love; and her soldiers, who loved her like their own mother, they were the bringers of that message to the other kingdoms. It was said that every time she went to war, it was to free the people of the tyrants who dominated them and once the war was over, her new subjects were grateful for her protection and they too joined her army to help her liberate the rest._

 _But then, a man arose from one of the invaded kingdoms. Before then, he was only a grunt for the fools who would never accept the Queen's grace, but then her soldiers came and they put the tyrants to the sword. The grunt escaped to a corner and saw his former allies turning to the light of the queen, but in his ignorance he saw his comrades betraying their wishes and ideals. His mind could not understand why they would follow her wish for a better world and thus he fell to grief. Sadly, his sorrow soon would turn in wrath, a wrath that would destroy the kingdom._

 _He began his foul quest by killing his former compatriots, ignoring their pleas of mercy as he put them at the axe, then he went to the soldiers who freed his home from the old tyrants. They tried to make him see reason, but he did not care, his only wish was their destruction. He murdered one of the Sons of the Queen for being the direct leader of the liberation of the Grunt's home realm, but at his deathbed, the son showed him the full extent of the utopia the kingdom was building. Unfortunately, to the murderer what he saw it was complete anathema to what he was._

 _The Queen searched for peace, the Grunt desired war; she wanted to create kinship, he was seeking for loneliness; she wished to create a new place to her subjects, he instead wished to destroy everything she built; she brought happiness to her realm, when he brought wrath to the survivors of his rampages; she was the mother of her people, the one who brought new life to them and let them rejoice for it; he was the one who brought death to those who crossed his way and those who did not, and let them inert in the silence of their abrupt ends._

 _As he went closer to the refuge of the Queen, her soldiers became desperate, and who could blame them? He murdered their brothers and sisters, he destroyed their homes and he corrupted the gifts of the Queen to his own gains. Their only hope was that she was using her own abilities to weaken the resolve of the Grunt, but it was not enough. At the end, the soldiers arrived too late and saw their Monarch being destroyed from the insides by their enemy. Then to rub his insult, he declared himself as the new King of the realm, reclaiming what was left of the powers of his victim to himself._

 _The Sons of the Queen would not accept such sacrilege at her legacy goes unpunished, but they were unable to unite in a great force by their disagreements on who would lead the survivors. Their bickering proved fatal and the Usurper took them out one by one, making sure that everything of them was destroyed. Their forces, their ideals and their own homes, all of it, were gone to never rise again. The Usurper was not satisfied he saw other realms who wanted to take the torch left by the Queen. So he left, to make sure that the ideals that destroyed his old life would never bloom again._

-From heretical writings of the Cult of the Young Goats, purged on 873. M40

* * *

"Hello?"

" _Do they want another battle?"_

"Hellooooo."

 _"_ _Of course, they do. 'Above good and evil' my ass."_

"Mister, wake up!"

 _"_ _You are dead. Damn you Blazkowicz."_

"This is not a place to be sleeping"

 _Wait...there is a child here? You pieces o-_

"I am sorry mister. Ripper, wake him up."

 _"_ _-spit on your temples an- hey! Get off!"_

It did the trick; the small animal called ripper went quickly to its owner, who grabbed it between her arms to protect it from the waking adult who was touching his licked check. He looked like a guardsman from the propaganda films with the main difference that his brown with yellow helmet protected everything but the face, his yellow chest armor with two brown pauldrons had cuts everywhere, his red pants also had the wear of time and the boots looked burned.

"Mister...are you okay?" She asked with an odd worry he have not heard for a long time.

The (apparent) soldier looked at her with a mix of warning and confusion. She was wearing a white wool cap, a black coat, black pants and brown boots; all of it getting dirtier by the minute. Her face was of an inhuman white, yet there was something human on it. He looked at the...thing she was hugging; it was a maggot-like being with white skin in its front and purple in the scales on its back, its eyes were a bit too big for the size of this animal but the teeth proved it was not a good idea piss it off.

"I am sorry; I just wanted to know if you were fine."

He composed himself and decided to try to diplomacy for once.

"Where the hell I am?"

"Deva Secundus, the main Hive city to be precise." Something was not right.

"It is the name of the planet?"

"Yes...?"

"It run by itself or it belongs to someone else?"

"You never heard of the Imperium of Man?"

"...I am not from here." He said. "Do you ever hear of a planet named Earth?"

"No, never mister."

"At last what year it is?"

"Mommy and Daddy never agree on that. Mom's have more millennia."

"Gods damn it." He whispered and decided to go for another part. "Do you have a name?"

"Lofn, and he is Ripper. Nice to meet you." She said to the maggot-like thing, which looked at him with suspicious eyes.

"Ranger."

"That is not a name."

"It is the last one left to me." There was an awkward silence between the two strangers. "Where are your parents?"

"We split up. Bad men found us again. I am waiting for them."

"Here? This does not look a place where I would hide my daughter..." He spaced, ancient memories coming ba-

"Mister?!"

"Sorry. What did you say?"

"I can lead you where I live."

"And your parents?"

"They are strong. Not even the Space Marine can stop them."

"Space Marines..." Well, those are words he is familiar with. Semper Fidelis and all that... "Can you lead me there? Just until I can focus myself."

"Sure." So they went to the hideout. Lofn was cheerful that she found another possible friend, but Ranger was not relaxed.

 _"_ _These Gods have no spoke yet. Why they would put me in a different place? This kid...she has something calm around her...I don't like it. No one sane or smart would let something like me inside their home...home...where is ho-"_

"We are here!" Lofn broke Ranger's line of thought. "Sorry if it's not much, I am not supposed to bring other people here."

"Then why did you bring me here?" He asked.

"Because it not nice leaving others alone."

"..." She seemed naive at least. "That thinking can lead you to trouble." Then they went inside, protected of this hellish mockery of urbanism.

* * *

"HEAR ME, YOU WHO CLAIM BE THE MOST FAITHFUL OF THE EMPEROR'S WILL!" A priest with red robes and a red party mask was rallying the flock of men and women behind him.

"HE ON TERRA TRUSTED US TO KEEP HIS WORLDS SAFE FROM THE FOULS OF THE GALAXY AND WE FAILED!" The flock was devastated.

"Look around you. This once beautiful city became the den of mutants, heretics and even witches! I raised these concerns to our Governor and HE IGNORED THEM!" Multiple booing was heard in the public.

"I asked the Arbiters, the PDF and even the once great Eccleasiarchy, but I was just laughed out too of their rich homes, build by the sweat and blood of our antecessors, enjoying its pleasures while we are here; naked, bad-feed, suffering every day for our lives and the lives of our families!" The mob was getting angrier by the second; they too knew the pain of not being heard by those who claimed have the power of the God-Emperor.

"I fell into despair, lost from the part of light for many days, until discovered THIS!" The priest putted out of his robes a large book; it said 'The Ludmillan Dictates' in pure High Gothic, the divine tongue from Terra itself. "This holy text has shown me that WE are the reason the Imperium is running such harsh times, it is our own sinfulness that it may doom mankind itself, BUT..." He paused, the faithful were attentive. "...WE can fix it; WE can purify this once great city, WE can earn our REDEMPTION!" The zeal present will be recorded in the annals of history according to the priest, but first...

"Now before me there is this refuge of heresy and evil, we shall cull a path of purity in this cesspool and once we are done here, we shall burn the fifth of our planet leadership! Now...WHO IS WITH ME?" Great shouts full of faith lighted the incoming night, the night where the main hive will be cleansed of sin. The priest smiled; soon all of Deva Secundus would know the Truth of Redemption.

* * *

"Inquisitor!"

"What it is agent?

"We picked up something grave!"

"Did you find the fugitives?"

"Negative, but there is a mob of cultists."

"GIVE ME THAT" "..." " Redemptionists? These maniacs will burn most of the hive."

"Shall we stop them"

"No…In fact, those madmen will force our targets to the open and when everyone else is distracted with the rejects from Necromunda, we shall dispense Justice once for all for the sins of Kronus!"

"But what happens if the Governor or the Or-"

"I will deal with them personally, besides we both know what will happen if our Lord hear of this."

"Of course sir."

"Good. Now get ready! Let's hope the enemy has thrown out a nasty surprise for us."

"My Lord?"

"What is it?"

"Shouldn't you have say 'Let's hope the enemy hasn't thrown out a nasty surprise for us'?"

"Just let finish this goose chase, shall we?"

* * *

Ranger was sitting in the worn-out couch in the emotionless gray living and managed to understand a few things. One, that this 'Hive City' covered like a quarter of all Deva Secundus; two, it seemed Lofn was the source of the strange calm aura he felt right now, which became stronger when he got closer to her, he was suspecting that the maggot-like animal would be something a lot worse without it; and three, the local television sucks.

He could not understand any word of what they were saying, which made the work of getting the antenna in the right place almost fruitless; if he had to guess, they were speaking in a messed up version of Latin mixed with alien tongues from all the galaxy. This would not be so bad if the few channels that still worked weren't full of propaganda.

The two headed eagle was a constant in the images and depending of the channel was either farmers cultivating the land, workers assembling machines in factories or hordes of soldiers fighting against hordes of green skinned brutes and/or cultists of all kinds; every single one had a golden warrior either overseeing the works or joining the battle, especially if the enemy were the cultists. All of it was adorned with organ music, orchestras and lots of skulls.

"Blazkowicz would hate living here." Ranger concluded as he was keep looking for something decent in the screen, until he hears the girl getting closer.

"Mister, don't you like the TV?" She asked.

"There is only trash here." He sighed in defeat.

"Well...Ripper is feeling hungry, so I wanted to ask if you were hungry as well."

"I am not hungry." A roar came from his gut. "Fine, I am hungry."

"Okay. Wait here when I get something done."

"Do you know how to cook?"

"Why not? Dad likes it." And she went to the kitchen. Ranger hoped it would taste better than ancients delicacies like 'Shambler's guts', 'Sarnathian Death Knights' or 'Sorg legs'.

* * *

For a child, the cooked grox did not taste so bad. Lofn was happy with her own food, the ripper was eager in devouring ever the bones and Ranger tasted the meat for any trace of eldritch magic in it. So far there was none.

Ranger looked at the walls of the kitchen, they were adorned with mostly drawings that was either Lofn with her ripper, Lofn playing with others animals like ripper or Lofn with two adults who had their hands together.

"Those two adults are your parents?"

"Yes!" She went to grab one of the drawings at put in the table. "She is my mother, Taldeer," She pointed to a tall looking woman with a black and white. "And this is my dad, Liivi." She pointed to slightly smaller man with black clothes.

"What kind of name is 'Liivi'?"

"What kind of name is 'Ranger'?

"...Touché."

Then feeling in a better mood thanks to the food (and perhaps being too much time inside the aura), Ranger went back to the living and against all common sense, he tried again to find something decent on the screen.

"C'mon, you can't show the same thing all day lon-ha! Football" Indeed, this time there was sports instead of propaganda.

"It is Rugby." Lofn corrected him.

"Close enough." And so he began to watch. He still could not understand what they were saying, but at least he understood what they were doing. He watched as the attackers were close enough to gain the last points to obtain victory.

And then the signal was shut down.

"MOTHERFU-"

"Hey! Watch your language!"

"First time I can lie down to watch something not violent and this is what I get?!" If it wasn't for Lofn's 'hippie' aura, Ranger would probably trash the television with kicks and punch without discrimination. Instead he gave some upset slaps to its sides.

"Unless you are a techpriest, I don't think hitting the poor thing will work, mister."

"Techwhat?" Ranger paused and realized the foolishness of his reactions. "It was the first normal thing I saw since I woke up in thi-" Then the screen went white, only to a red hood appear in the screen. Hundred voices shouted a chant.

"The hell it is speaking?"  
"It's a hymn to the God-Emperor."  
"So more propa-" Lofn hushed him as the screen resumed.

"Habitants of Deva Secunds, tonight all of you shall hear the truth. The truth is that our leaders has failed us who are faithful and failed the Emperor himself!"

"That does not sound like typical propaganda." Ranger commented as Lofn was traducing what the voice was saying.

"They had the duty to keep the purity of the holy human form in both mind and body, but instead we have to deal with fifth" The TV began to list a series of images in coordination with the speech. "Gangers! Mutants! Heretics! Witches! And even Xenos!" Images of criminals, freaks, cultists, madmen and someone who looked the kid's mother were shown in it.

"We have seen how deep the corruption plagues this planet and we had ENOUGH! Tonight we, the Cult of Redemption, shall start our crusade to free Deva Secundus of this heresy! Anyone who wants to join our just cause shall be welcome as brothers and sisters, but those who tries to resist the Truth of Redemption will be punished for heresy like the rest of the scum tonight! Good night and let the Emperor open your eyes!" And then the screen died. Nothing was heard except for an increasing dread in the air.

"That last photo...it was my mother's people..." Lofn muttered, while the ripper got close to her. Ranger went quickly to the kitchen and watched the draw of Lofn's parents.

The mother had pointy ears.

"Weapons." He said.

"What?"

"There are any weapons in this house?"

"What are you saying?!"

"I am going to kill those cultists bastards."

"What!?"

"Where. Are. The. Weapons?" Lofn noticed a darkness growing in Ranger's face and she pointed to a door next the kitchen.

"There is mostly trash there." Then Ranger grabbed a fire axe, passing his gloved fingers to test its sharpness.

"I assume they will have guns." He thought in low voice. "Until then, it's enough"

"Are you just leaving?!" She asked indignant at the soldier. "Just to kill them like a sadist monster?!" Then Ranger stopped, and Lofn could feel his darkness withdrawing.

"If you don't want the monsters to hunt you," He said in a low voice. "You must hunt them first." He grabbed a worn out photo from his armor. "Even if you become one of them in the process." He looked at it and he closed his eyes as he returned it to his armor.

"Do not open this door unless it's your parents or me. Am I clear?" She nodded, grabbing her ripper tighter in her arms. The animal was also looking worried at him.

"Be safe." She pleaded, he nodded and stepped outside, back to the hive.

* * *

"Inquisitor. The redemptionists began to move to the middle hive."

"That was the last section where we found the fugitives."

"I hate to question your judgment, but are you still willing to let these citizens suffer to catch our targets?"

"Compared to the lives saved if we take down a rogue assassin, a xeno witch and that...thing, it's bloody pitiful."

"I apologi-"

"You should know already I saved you because you know the concept of sacrifice for the glory of the Imperium, something most of your once comrades failed to understand."

"Keep looking at these traitors. I shall order the police to clean up once everything is said and done. I don't want any surprises to happen this night."

"Understood my lord. His will be done."

* * *

As Ranger walked in the streets, it became more obvious that the rest of the habitants were either hiding inside or preparing red robes to join these maniacs in a faint hope for protection.

He did not care for the latter for now, he needed to find those already converted and seek for hints for their leader. If things ended right, offing the head would stop the rabble for now.

He saw light from a weak flame, then chants, and then weapons being armed.

He went inside a trash container at looked the mob of fanatics arriving. They had red robes everywhere, some of them were wearing party mask, also of color red. The leader of the mob was using a torch in one hand and a machine gun in the other one. The rest were using either knifes, pistols or the occasional pitchfork. Ranger counted them between fifteen and twenty lunatics.

One of them was behind the mob and once they turned to their right corner, he returned to a wall began to take a piss on it.

"So much for redemption." Said Ranger as he left the container and went closer to the idiot, axe in hand. The 'fanatic' was just zipping up his pants when he felt something behind him.

"Huh?" Thankfully for him the axe was quick and painless. Ranger was glad that idiot did not scream, but he regretted not killing in a more painful way when he checked the pistol only half clip. Eight bullets weren't enough to off this particular mob.

"Hopefully the machine gun has more." He said as he walked forwards the mob. It looked like they stopped because the one with the pitchfork was asking something to their leader and by looking at the latter's face, it was something stupid.

Everyone was looking at the heated dispute, so Ranger took aim at the leader's head.

 _"Steady...steady... now!"_

The leader's head splattered in all his followers. Ranger hoped this would make them run like rats, where then he would grab the machine gun and off these madmen one by one.

Instead they turned at him and fired with all they got.

For being mere bullets, they packed a lot of strength and it would not for too long until they destroyed the corner Ranger was using for cover. He needed a distraction.

His left hand began to form a ball of purple energy until it was the size of the palm and shoot electricity out of it. The Dire Orb, his war trophy against the Elder Gods.

He noticed the mob running out of ammo and they were reloading, so he looked two hostiles too far of the rest, hiding in the next corner. Ranger shoots the orb the pair; get off the cover and spends the last seven bullets in the rest. Those who still lived opened fire at him, but before any bullet touched him, Ranger disappeared in a blue energy mist, only to reappear between the two lone cultists, burning them to death with the energy around him.

"WITCH!" They screamed in horror and hate, and somehow Ranger understood every single letter.

 _"No matter, they are going to die anyways."_

Ranger grabbed the pistol and took aim to the other bastards, unloading the bullets until there was none and the mob only had five of them still living. He felt cocky and jumped at them axe in hand when they run out of ammo again. He struck in the first bastard when before he could exit the empty clip, then he cut the arms of his ally in his right; from behind the cultist with the pitchfork stroke, but the armor made it useless, so Ranger went to the foot, grabbed the pitchfork, shove it in the stomach and throw the poor man to his companions.

They got up quickly, having finished putting a new clip in their pistols when Ranger had just recovered the axe; they fired at him with all the zeal and fury they had, hitting the armor and knocking him down. They looked surprised at their victory, they reloaded and went closer to the witch's corpse, only to Ranger grab their necks, each one with one hand; he made them head-butt each other, grabbed their pistols and unleash the whole package on them.

"..." Ranger took a breath after no feeling any life outside left. He went to the machine gun and searched for its former owner's body if it had enough magazines. It was enough to take down a few other mobs. He took a breath before following the closest chants.

 _"One herd down. Dozens left."_

* * *

"Inquisitor!"

"Did you find them?!"

"Something worse."

"If this is a joke I swear-" "..." "...!" "Did he teleport with a Doombolt?!"

"My lord..."

"This is grave news. Still, our duty remains."

"But-"

"FIND THE TRAITOR AND THE WITCH! If we are lucky, the redemptionists will take this frakking psyker with them."

"But if he survives?"

"My lord?"

"Then Deva Secundus may be forced to face a worse threat that the evil we are hunting."

* * *

The once priest; now Redeemer was busy dispensing atonement to the unfortunate souls he captured now.

"YOU KILLED MY SONS YOU BASTARD!" A man tied to a pyre shouted in anguish before his impending judgment.

"It is your fault to not lead them to the right path as all fathers should do. Only you are guilty to not stop their ganger ways. I shall pray the Emperor that he forgives all of you for your sins in life."

"HE WOULD NOT APRROVE THIS!" Another tied man screamed in rage.

"WRONG! HE DOES NOT APROVE HOW WE LEAD OUR WORLD STRAY, HOW WE CONSUMED OURSELVES IN SIN!" The Redeemer shouted in defiance. "Now...the only way to mend it, to earn our redemption, it's to burn it all and START ANEW!" He threw the torch to the pyre, burning the poor souls trapped in it and began to pray that the flames cleansed them of their heresy.

"Lord Redeemer! Lord Redeemer!" A man who saw the Truth ran to his master, panicked and wounded.

"What in Holy Terra happened?!"

"My lord, we were attacked by a witch!"

"WHAT?!"

"I swear for Sanguinus it's true!" Upon hearing this, the leader commanded a medic to help this poor faithful. "He looked like a soldier from the PDF...no, the Imperial Guard. He attacked us with stub weapons, an axe and his foul sorcery!"

"..." The leader thought for a moment, then he directed to another cultist preparing another pyre. "You! Gather all the faithful left! Tell them the Archenemy is here and we shall destroy him right here, right now!" The man went quickly as the Redeemer began to shout to the heavens.

"I CHALLENGE YOU, FIFHTY SORCERER! I AND MY FLOCK ARE NOT SCARED OF YOU! TONIGHT WE SHALL PROVE HOW BLESSED OUR CRUSADE IS! AND WE SHALL SLAY YOU, CLEANSING YOU IN THE FLAMES OF REDEMPTION!"

Ranger was already near them, hunting those who separeted themselves of the rest of the madmen to purge any poor soul in the streets.

"Twenty years and I am finally out. I'm not letting you ruin it now."

* * *

It has been more of ten millennia since the gods where lost for the folly of their own children, too blind in their own glory and hubris until it was too late. Yet, despite no longer receiving an answer, those children who still lived would seek comfort praying them; perhaps they were lying themselves to cling hope until something more tangible could appears.

Lofn prayed for the third time for the safety of her parents, she knew they are strong, but sometimes that was not enough. In fact, it was Dad who saved Mom of a certain death caused by her own hubris. She hoped that somehow Isha, Cegorach or even Khaine was doing something to save them.

She was also worried about this human stranger she found; mother forbade her to gaze into the minds to other people, but curiosity won over her and what she (lightly) saw filled her with dread. His mind was nothing but a convoluted mass of unfocused thoughts, memories without sense and a deep hatred in constant battle for supremacy. Only when he made up his decision to hunt down the redemptionists his mind went clear as the ocean. She suspected he may be one of those souls who were not strong enough to resist the voices of the Warp and if her assumption was correct…

She hopes her parents arrive before he or the cultists does. Ripper was sharing these worries and could not sleep well, so she hugs it warmly and it snuggles in her neck.

"Don't worry, Mom and Dad will be back. They always do."

* * *

"….and as our Lord made it clear when He walked among us, our body is the mirror of our soul; and those whose body is impure, it shows the rotting evil of their existence and I SHALL GRANT THEM THE CURE!" The Redeemer gave his sermon, finishing it with burning another group of unlucky mutants who were not killed by the mob who found them. "This Hive has suffered the mutant, the heretic and even the xenos to live, their festering allowed by the scum of the Upper Hive because of 'cheap factory workers', ignoring us who would gladly accept those positions for the glory of the Imperium!"

"Xenos? Here?!" One of new recruits asked in disbelief.

"INDEED! An affront of to all human life lies hidden, sapping the wills of the faithful into simple apathy! Now we mus-" The rant was interrupted by an explosion with scores of dying screams.

"He's here!" One of the cultists shouted; everyone already knew who they meant.

"EVERYONE GATHER IN YOUR PLACES! WE WILL TEACH THIS PSYKER THE MIGHT OF OUR CAUSE!" The Redeemer shout orders to his men while he was standing in the center of a lifeless square, where each corner laid a great statue of armored warriors who saved Deva Secundus in the past and even their fearsome bare gaze could put fear on the Emperor's enemies.

The hordes of faithful and roadblocks that covered every entry up to four blocks were for if that was not enough.

At the fifth square, Ranger was crouching in the recently blown up car. Some nutjob failed the basics of rocket launching, getting him and his fellow madmen killed. Shame, Ranger wanted that weapon; instead he had to conform himself with a machine gun with a few magazines, a pistol with some clips and the fire axe that was beginning to dent its edge; he was not sure if that would be enough to eliminate those assholes.

And he was only considering those in front of him.

At least those guns do pack a punch.

"In that case I will steal what they leave behind" It scared him in the past how his mind would get crystal clear in a life-or-death situation, but now it was only way he could think clearly at all. Two decades trapped in the realms of the Gods turned him from a dutiful soldier head to a monster that needed to fight in order to have a sense of mind.

That did not change the fact these cultists needed to die; it did no matter which God they followed, their sanity would be destroyed by either the powers from beyond or their own zeal; and these men were extremely zealous, if the torched blocks behind were anything to show.

They were shouting threats, taunts, orders or prayers; Ranger instead pulled a photo from his armor; it was crumped, losing its color and it showed a soldier hugging his wife and his daughter.

"Hang in there. It will be over soon." Ranger said to them; he hid the photo in a secret place of his boot, safe of any harm. He heard a molotov being thrown above him, followed for what it seemed shouts of disapproval; Ranger grabbed his machinegun, gave a monstrous snarl from the deepest hole of his body and charged at the next block, shooting two idiots who were out of cover.

The twentysomething redemptionists at the fourth block let their fury drive them to get closer, firing badly at the humanoid monster that was killing his fellows despite its face showing nothing but hatred. They put out their knives, but the heretic kept shooting with the machinegun until he run out of bullets, switching to a pistol to keep firing.

"Look at him! A true believer would never reject a chance of glorious me-" The taunt was shot down by a bullet in the head, scaring stiff at the few cultists left to then finish them off with the pistol.

"One block less." Ranger muttered as he reloaded both guns. He observed the hostiles in the third block screaming curses at him and setting up a mounted gun above a pile of trashed cars in the center of the streets. He snarled again and charged at them, firing at the ones mounting the great weapon.

"Be cleansed, monster!" The leader shouted and behind the pile dozens of cocktail bombs was thrown at Ranger, who barely backed away before the flames hit it; only to receive fire from the mounting gun that would quartered him if he had not shoot the Dire Orb behind him and teleported him behind some burning tires

Mad laughter came from the redemptionists as they gave supporting fire; Ranger had to stick in the floor until he could regain enough energy for the orb, having the bullets skim his boots. He noticed a silhouette among the fire, a bird looking at him, mockingly.

Without thinking twice Ranger shoots the orb to the bird, but passed through it. Ranger teleported to destroy it from the inside, but instead it was one of the humans who got telefragged. A demonic laugh was the last thing was heard from it.

More pressing matters were present; the redemptionists charged at him, so Ranger shoot at them until the last one went behind and tried to choke him. Ranger aimed his back to the nearest wall and charged to it, hitting the madman over and over again until his grip fell, then Ranger hit him with the butt of his machinegun one, two, three, four, five…

"No, no, no, you SHOOT with it!" He reminded himself and finished the poor soul properly. He went to the mounted gun to see if it still had ammo left.

It had a lot still. It made a nice bandolier.

Grinning at the sight, Ranger dismounted the gun, put the bandolier above his shoulder and began to run to the second block.

The cultists there were starting to getting worried, watching that monster tearing apart their fellows. Yet their Firebrand reminded them that this is the reason the Truth of Redemption was needed, to stop these monster to taint the might of the Imperium. And so, with mere words he drove those men to charge the enemy, trusting fully in the Emperor's Light would grant them strength to purge the filth from Deva Secundus.

Ranger's gun turned them into human strainer, making the third block easier at the cost of all the ammo of the mounted gun. He enjoys looking at the cultists left losing their will to live.

"This monster is unstoppable!"

"Why our bullets can't hit him?!"

"The Emperor has aban-" One shot putted the heresy down for good.

"Men of little faith." The Redeemer arrived, his gun still hot. "It is normal that we find a stepping stone that refuses to move apart." Then he pulled out from his robes a large bottle filled with a strange liquid. "This sacred elixir not only will clear your mind from doubts, but also it will make your body immune to the foulest pain. So who will blessed first?"

All of them drank from the 'elixir', that in reality was a mix of some of the most dangerous drugs in the planet. It made them thirsty from the blood of the heretic and most of them would die of overdose before dawn. Then again, the martyrs are the backbone of the Imperium.

"Now… KILLLLLLLLL" The Redeemer shouted and so they charged at Ranger, who was now regretting letting his wrath waste the bullets of the mounted gun. He took aim with his machine gun and realized that it took more bullets to put those madmen down, their sense of pain replaced by an eagerness for murder. He kept steady fire as he backed away of the horde, but it did no matter how many of them died; more zealots would come to replace them.

*click* *click*

 _"Shit."_ The machinegun ran out of magazines just as he blew up part of the head of a stubborn hostile, who having lost half of his brain didn't stop him as he tried to scratch him to death; but having the rest separated from his neck.

"I hate going in melee." Ranger muttered as took out his pistol in his right hand and put his axe in the left one as he decided that he had to get in the thick of the mob. "This is the stupidest idea I had since I set foot in this place."

"I WILL TEAR YOUR SINS APART!" The redemptionists loved seeing the human witch ignore his powers and go the fray like a man; he would have a more worthy death that he deserved. This zealot ecstasy made them ignore even more the lost limbs caused by the hacking and shooting at them. At most, it was their proof they were worthy sons of He on Terra until the end.

Ranger did not share their enthusiasm; the clips burned quicker than he hoped which forced him to use both hands on the axe and focusing in decapitate the loonies still alive. He hacked, cut, teared and dismembered the horde apart and it began to thin at last.

 _"_ _They went berserk because these are the last ones left."_

This realization gave Ranger enough strength to slay the dozens of madmen left. Even when they surrounded him and outnumbered him; nor their curses, neither their knives, not even their guns were capable to stop him. They were stubborn until the end; some of them tried to bite him even after the loss of their own limbs, but was not enough to stop the one human who can boast being the slayer of the Goat Mother of the Thousand Young.

As the last choke gave the end of the battle, Ranger touched his left hip and felt his blood coming out of a wound that broke through his armor; he struggled to not fall in the dantesque show of blood, gibs and body parts scattered in the street of the first block; he knew the leader was still wasting too much air.

The Redeemer was oddly calm, he kept looking the massacre with increasing contempt and when it became obvious his flock would fail to bring the witch down even on melee, he armed himself with a personal treasure from his days in the rotten Eccleasiarchy: the mighty Eviscerator, three meters of holy steel against the sinners of the galaxy.

"You may have destroyed my flock, but your wounds are proof their sacrifices were not in vain." The Redeemer turned on his chain sword and aimed it at the foul psyker.

"What it is with you maniacs and the 'Great Communicator'?" Ranger asked with his right hand stopping the bleeding and his left one holding the axe, not caring they could not understand each other beyond their desire to kill their enemy.

"This battle can end in two ways, and none of them will let your filthy life continue to plague this world!" The Redeemer prepared to charge.

"Whatever death you have planned against me, it can't be worse that the tortures the Gods made in my mind, body and soul!" Ranger readied himself to give one last trick.

"FOR THE EMPEROR!" The mad priest ran with all the zeal of his cult, screaming with the strength enough to shatter the concentration of the heretic, who then would not notice his judgment aiming for the head. It seemed working, because Ranger did not move as the might of the Redemption was a few steps to crunch his miserable existence.

"Just die ALREADY!" Ranger summoned the Dire Orb and shoots it between the Redeemer's legs, teleporting just as the Eviscerator made a dent in his helmet; the zealot spent all his forces in that strike, watching in horror as his holy weapon only tore apart the floor. He failed to realize in time that Ranger was behind him. As the axe opened his throat to the air, his only regret was not acting before it was too late.

* * *

"Inquisitor?"

"No traces of the rogue agent and the xeno, right?"

"And the Redemptionists in the main plaza are all dead."

"…How is the state of the unknown witch?"

"Wounded, my lord. I do not think he may survive until dawn."

"Hopefully any ganger still living will gets a sniper kill on him. I will send a replacement for you. Dissmissed."

"Good night, my Lord."

"Emperor be with you."

"…."

"…."

"…."

"…."

"….so another madman of the Arenas arrived…"

* * *

The emotions from the Warp changed from a twisted fight to a ravenous feeding, followed by eerie calm.

Lofn was not a fool, she knew that his parent killed the bad men every time they found them; she guessed that like those who fell to the whisper of the damned there was no hope to lead them to reason, but it seemed the bloodthirsty outnumbered those who would rather live and let others do the same.

And if the waves were not lying, either the Cult of Redemption killed enough poor souls to satisfy their madness or Ranger killed all the cultists just as he promised.

A hard but tired knock went to the door; Lofn feared that it came from one of the surviving zealots.

"Annie, are you in home?" She knew that voice. Lofn opened the door, watching Ranger falling to the floor unconscious. She noticed the wound in his left hip and hurried herself to at least give him a decent human treatment.

Lofn managed to put away the helmet and the chest armor, revealing his bald head and his brawny yet aging body respectively; she put wool with alcohol in the wound, which did not hurt enough to awake him; once she cleaned it up, she put some bandage to stop more blood to came out; once it stopped bleeding, she barely put Ranger above the mattress and put a blanket to cover him. I t did not take much time until he fell sleep.

Lofn looked at the wounded soldier one last time before going to her own bed where Ripper was sleeping; it was obvious her parents would not be happy when they discover she helping another psyker who barely shielded his mind, but there was too much hatred in the galaxy to let someone else die by mere inaction. He closed her eyes, trusting in her parents' return and that she made the right thing saving the stranger.

* * *

 **So there it is. Read and Review.**


	2. Wrath of the Tempest

**Finally, part two is out (I blame my own lazyness and having to rewrite a great part after looking about lore about the Storm troopers.)**

* * *

This day was probably the worst day of Roland Vandalarius, Duke of the respected House of Vandalarius, firstborn of the glorious Lord General Sebastian Vandalarius and current Planetary Governor of Deva Secundus.

Until now, while his position did not gave him the power he felt he deserved, he was mighty enough to only worry about his greedy peers and making sure the tithe was paid without issues, but now not only a part of the rabble went nuts and decided to do things their way, but also they had enough bollocks to mess with the local television and make their declaration of war to all the main hive, and before dawn there was a lot of reports about sanctioned abhumans murdered, entire blocks put to the torch and lots of gangers coming out of the streets just to let their bloodthirstiness out in someone who was not some poor citizen or themselves.

Now he was trying to convince the other nobles to let their personal army to at least secure order beyond their petty castles without having to retort to a death threat by an Arbiters' club.

"Lord Governor. We have reports of more murders of sanctioned mutants in the east!" One of his assistants gave another bad news

"Of course, there are more. Do you have at least any news about something good happening?"

"The police forces managed to keep the main plaza of the Spire and all the Train Stations under control. Also we got informed House Gottsched is sending forces to aid our PDF to secure the factories of the Norwest."

"The fat arse of Gunther is not going to let his spoiled daughter's birthday without another demonstration of the joys of multi-melta. Still, this is a welcome relief."

"Errmm…my Lord?!" A soldier put himself in the room. "A man claiming coming from the Inquisition wants to see you." Roland was now regretting the show of his joy about the good reports.

"Let him enter." The soldier did so and it was clear the newcomer was ready for war. Under a red hood the man showed the pass of time with locks of white hair and a scar crossing his left bionic eye, while the right one had a dark blue iris that could break the souls of the weak traitors. He was using also red power armor not unlike the fabled Space Marines, leaving his gaze eight meters above the floor; it had big illustrations of symbols of the Ecclesiarchy, ancient scriptures with promises done to the Ordos and the Emperor put in the left shoulder, left power fist and left boots; but what was more striking were a power greatsword in his left hip, a grand book in his right hip and a gigantic 'I' with a human skull in the middle in the chest, the symbol of the Holy Orders of the Officio Inquisitorious.

Compared with that, the Governor only had a military coat, a pretty monocle and a portable bolter pistol in case the madmen managed to get inside his own palace.

"I am Inquisitor Helmut Montag, Ordo Hereticus." The man presented himself with a tone of disappointment. "It is clear that you are failing to live up the name of your House. This is not what I expected to see in my own homeworld." Roland wanted to come up with a decent excuse. "But the time of pointing fingers for the guilty has yet to come. I am here to help to put down the rebellious rabble. Do you mind telling me where the leaders of this uprising are?" The Governor gulped a bit before ordering to bringing him the news.

"The main issue is in the middle hive, a horde of rebels known as the 'Cult of Redemption' is causing burnings there. Their leader is a former priest known to accuse the local abhumans of unproven heresies." Then they put in the table photos of the mentioned leader. "We lost contact with the main horde two hours ago."

"You should thank the Golden Throne that he will not be a problem anymore." Then the Inquisitor put above a dantesque picture of the whole group of cultists killed, their leader included. "Still, I highly doubt some mere gangers were capable of such feat. Even misplaced, the Faith in the God-Emperor can lead one to great accomplishments." The Governor was covering his mouth of the shock. "I will send my Inquisitorial Tempestus Scions to his deathbed, along with any place that requires my services." Roland Vandalarius knew it was not a kind gesture of charity and now he had nothing to do about it.

"Understood, I will signal you the worsts skirmishes."

* * *

Ranger felt his whole body in pain, he somehow knew his back was against the floor and that he had to get up and open his eyes. Doing so granted him a familiar but hated sight.

 _I know this place._

He was inside a cathedral, but the windows instead of angels or something comforting represented a hooded winged monster with a bleeding heart above its head. There were small rivers of blood leading the center of the place and the few open windows showed floating terrain united by chains, clouds barely hiding monstrous tendrils and limbless abominations flying around. Before Ranger could come to terms what he was seeing and that he was wielding a machinegun, a demonic voice appeared.

 **Welcome again.**

"No, no, not again…."

 **Prepare to fight.**

"No…I'm not longer your gladiator!"

 **Round begins in three.**

"No"

 **Two.**

"No!"

 **One.**

"You bast-"

 **FIGHT!**

Gunshots started to rain everywhere as Ranger ran quickly to find any ammo, weapon or armor those bastards did summon, but instead…

"Time to get some air!" A thin punk junkie in a hoverboard armed a blue weapon known as a nailgun. Ranger hated both the junkie known as Anarki and the design of his weapon, which did shoot nails that Ranger managed to avoid without issue; but he also failed to hit mark with the rapid bastard.

Noticing his awful aim, Anarki instead pulled out a small purple device that worked as a gauntlet with a small chainsaw. He grinned knowing that getting killed by one of these was the worst shame in the Arena and charged at Ranger, who ducked the hit and shoot at the hoverboard, making the punk fall on his face, not giving him enough time to avoid the lethal burst in the back. Ranger then grabbed the Nail Gun, spat at Anarki's body and went to search for more resources.

"I will harvest your soul!" Shotgun fire came from one of the fanatics of the particular God who was watching this match. A woman of short white hair, glowing eyes, pale blue skin and armor from the medieval ages was shooting him to feed his blood to her Gods and Ranger was having none of that. He ran forwards away knowing he could be blasted away by the shots or her Unholy Totems she could summon.

The zealot Paladin named Galena, would not let a sinner who killed one of the Gods themselves goes unpunished and pursued him in the halls, but after one corner she got hit in the face with Anarki's hoverboard, then got executed by Ranger's nails. They were not of nine inches large, but it did the job. Ranger was just loading the shotgun when rockets came from the right.

"You're among the wolves now!" Ranger realized that now he was facing one of the few sane warriors of the Arena. A man of middle age with light brown hair, light brown jacket, graying brown pants and army boots; that man was William "BJ" Blazkowicz, a veteran hero of an ancient war that happened in home too long ago, but Ranger knew he came from a timeline where evil has triumphed, also that he was dual welding rocket launchers. Rocket launchers aimed at him.

The barrage was too much to handle, so Ranger uses the Dire Orb to go to a high position to fire the nailgun at BJ, who escaped as he wasted the lasts rockets. Ranger jumped down, putting himself point blank at BJ with shotgun in hand, and muttering "I'm sorry." as he blew up the veteran face off his body.

 **Excellent.**

Ranger snarled at the voice, but he got grabbed in the neck by a warrior covered from head to toe by a green armor corrupted by demonic energies and the whispers of his dead home. To many souls, this warrior was the one whose undying rage saved them from being slaves of Hell itself. For Ranger, this Doom Slayer was just another madman he had to put down again. Unlike Blazkowicz, Doom did resist being shot point blank by the shotgun; his only reaction was throwing Ranger to the floor and then he dedicates himself to punch him in the face nonstop.

The Hell Walker may be feared as an avatar of Rage, but Ranger felt his own anger forming in his right hand and used a small pause from his foe to connect a powered jab at his helmet that stopped Doom in his tracks. Ranger did not stop there; against common sense he punched the Doom Slayer's face again and again, to the point they both noticed the latter visor breaking at each punch; but when Ranger felt this last punch would put this rabid bunny down for good, Doom grabbed his arm, used it to throw Ranger to the floor, put his foot in the slipgate warrior's face to keep him still and then he ripped the arm apart.

Ranger wanted to scream, but something was stopping his voice in his throat. Doom Slayer was not done yet; he grabbed Ranger's head, then he put his hand in each part of his jaw, and then began to open it apart.

Ranger couldn't do nothing to stop this mute psycho, he was feeling every part of his head being torn apart not fast enough, it hurts, it hurts, ithurtsithurtsithurtsithurtsithurtsithurtsImustscreamIhavetoscreamwhyIcannotscrea-

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Ranger opened his eyes and instead of a Cathedral of the Elder Gods, he was above of a mattress in a somehow familiar room, lacking his armor and weapons except for the boots; with the naive girl being near, obviously frightened by his scream.

"Mister, are you alright?!" She said worried. Ranger then noticed that she had pointy ears like the drawing of her mother.

"Lofn…that is your name?" She nodded. "It was…an awful nightmare. Just that, a nightmare."

"No, it was a memory; but I can't tell her that."

Lofn sighed in relief, but Ranger also had some questions.

"How I got here?"

"I don't know. You just walked here, wounded and mumbling about someone." Ranger tensed, he noticed the bandage in his hips, but there was the fear he said something nobody should know.

"Who was that person?"

"Annie." Ranger felt an odd confusion, he should be relieved nothing eldritch came from his mouth, but it also brought back painful memories. Not the ones who tore your body apart, but the ones who broke your soul. Lofn noticed his distress. "I'm sorry, I did not mean to-"

"It's okay." Ranger interrupted. "She is my wife, I have a family too." His mission was returning too. "They are waiting for me."

Lofn sighed; she guessed it was everything good now. "Well, I will be back to my room them, you scared Ripper too." She went there but then…

"Wait." Lofn turned around at Ranger. "Thanks kid." Then finally Ranger went to rest under his own terms. Lofn returned to her bed, also to sleep, completely happy for receive a confirmation of her beliefs.

* * *

"Status report: All insurgents were purged" A tempestor informed by a sanctioned vox channel. He along with his squad was standing above the pile of dead redemptionists who wanted to use this place to kill beings the Emperor needed yet to keep His wars run smoothly. Unlike the Planetary Defense Force, who were lucky to have armor covering their chest and have a basic lasgun at all, these soldiers were granted the best Carapace armor a baseline human can wield in the Imperium and the destroyer of armors Hot-shot lasgun (also known as Hellguns), as expected of the Tempestus Scions, especially those who worked alongside the Inquisition itself.

"Alright. I will inform the lads of the PDF that the Main Warehouse is waiting for them." A voice speaking in a link between them and Inquisitor Montag, who was testing the Governor to see how much he deserved to be punished for failing to maintain order.

"With all respect to the Inquisitor, why do we need to aid them in putting down these amateurs?" The Scions are supposed to go the worsts places the enemy, be heretics or aliens, had when the Artartes were not around; not killing some upstarts gangers in a hive, which is the job of the Arbiters.

"The Inquisitor does have some fondness of this particular planet, but these actions will let us operate here without issue in case the Command Squad somehow fails to purge that…abomination." The voice responded with information the Stormtroopers knew already, this was nothing but a show of might, to let it clear to the local nobles they had to answer to people who could sentence the damnation of their souls if found wanting.

"In that case we will hold position until the PDF relieve us." The tempestor then closed the connection, when one of his men gave him more news.

"New hostiles going by the main door, they seem be just mere looters." He spoke almost bored.

"Kill one of them as a warning. If they don't leave, then throw some frags for good measure." It did not take more of a few seconds to hear a shot and screams from the looters.

"Those frakheads are from the Inquisition! Run!" At least someone was smart enough to not mess with the eyes of the Emperor himself, not that it was enough to spare at least five of the looters if the screams and shoots counted were to considerate, but those who died are lucky the Scions were too professional to give them an awful death for daring desecrate a holy place like a mob of greenskins.

The tempestor decided to give a prayer to Him on Terra, to give strength to the other squads to finish off the bunch of traitors the Inquisitor seemed to be obsessed with for once for all; lest their years of training and gear gets wasted in more gangers.

* * *

"Attention all citizens. Emergency curfew in progress." A monotone voice was heard once again in the morning. "Remain in your homes and pray for deliverance. The PDF has everything under control."

"They said the same thing again?" Ranger asked while doing some abdominals exercises despite Lofn's warnings about his wound.

"How you can't understand Low Gothic?" That was a question that pursued Lofn until now.

"I told you, I'm not from here." Ranger suddenly remembered an unasked issue. "Wait…what tongue are speaking now?"

"…eldar tongue…"

"The heck is an eld…your mother's people, right?" She nodded. "Or they speak English, or my mind got so wacked up I am speaking alien now." Ranger did not like either option.

"Do…you have issues with aliens?"

"As long they don't try to kill me, I don't care." He claimed at her. _"I have to yet meet one who is not an asshole, thought."_

"Really?" She sighed with relief.

"Let me guess, most humans here despise them?"

"Yes, but not without reasons by the way."

"Are the humans here assh…jerks?"

"In the best of cases."

"…"

"How do you speak eldar?"

"No idea, kid. Perhaps they share tongue with the humans from home." His suspicions were not very encouraging. "Are they jerks too?"

"Mom says they wouldn't let me live in the craftworld until I grow up. I don't know why."

 _"Something tells me it must be related with the whole interspecies…'partnership', but I will keep it quiet for now."_

"Do you remember how you got here?"

"…no, and I would rather forget that."

"Your dreams?" Ranger's mood worsened in an instant.

"Look kid, I don't want to talk about it, understood?" He said. "Unless you tell me first what is this 'Imperium of Man' and who is this 'Emperor' who commands it. Then I can tell you the censored version." She seemed to accept that deal, as long he also stopped his exercises. She would need to get new bandages after this.

According to Lofn, the Imperium was born ten thousand years ago by a being known as the Emperor who united the disorganized human planets under his rule after a disaster called 'The Long Night', where hundreds of aliens preyed in the remains of old human civilization and it was linked to a part of eldar history she did not want to speak about. According to her father, he is the most glorious protector of Mankind and a living God in his prime; while her mother says he was just a powerful psyker, strong enough to unite most of mankind and turn them in one of the most dangerous species, but too blind and prideful to watch his foes from within, leading to his undeath at the hands of the voices of the Warp, the dreaded forces of Chaos.

As vengeance for the unpunished raids suffered in their darkest hour, the Imperium was founded in the hatred and desire of extermination of all xeno life, even the lifeforms they never met before. After the fall of the Emperor by his generals corrupted by the forces of Chaos, madmen who follow the voices of the Warp where added at the blacklist. According to her mother, the current High Farseer of her Craftworld of birth tried to warn the Emperor himself of the Ruinous Powers, but he was ignored by the arrogant human and it cost him dearly.

"What about you mister?" Sha asked. Ranger wanted to hear more, but he guessed he would ask her parents themselves why they did not kill each other.

"Well, in my planet the eggheads…I mean the men of science invented a technology called the Slipgate, which was supposed to let transport provisions and people at large distances in an instant, but the idiots forgot about what could be living in between."

Lofn had an idea of what Ranger meant, which would explain his broken mood.

"I was a Marine, but-"

"You? A Marine? Then why are you so tiny?"

"Would you let me finish?"

"Sorry."

"Apology accepted. I was a Marine, but there I was some poor sucker who was not aware of what they were doing. I learned it the day of the invasion zero at five of the freaking morning. An alien being codenamed Quake who lurked in another world was invading mine using the slipgates, successfully brainwashing most of the personal there. Me and my team were the best, but Quake brainwashed most of them…I had to put them out of their misery."

"I'm sorry."

"The majority of HQ was dead or missing, and the last orders were 'go to the slipgate and stop the invasion at all cost'. I doubt they had any idea what was at the other side: there were countless worlds corrupted by the enemy and its inhabitants transformed beyond recognition, my only guide left was the flow of the slipgates left in the remains of our own bases."

"Did you manage to defeat Quake?" She asked

"Yes!" He said with a sudden grin that disappeared just as quickly. "But with a high cost, I had to put…bad things in my head to find the knowledge of what Quake was and how to kill her for good." Lofn shuddered at the implications of his claims. "The source of it coming from some magic runes I lost a long time ago." He skipped the part he kept one of them. "Quake needed four of those runes to destroy Earth in a fell swoop, but I managed to get them before her minions offered them and I used them to destroy her. If only that would mean the end."

"There is more?"

"Yes, I spent twenty years trapped in their realms, away of home, having to hear the whispers of her fellow 'gods'; they eventually trapped me in an Arena where I lost my own name and most of my humanity. It's hard to think when I am not in middle of a combat, at most I got some of their powers and resilience." Ranger then opened his right palm again and summoned the Dire Orb. "This is my war trophy, the proof that even the Gods can be destroyed; but also, it is a constant reminder I am no longer a human." Then he closed his hand, shutting down the orb too. There was a tense calm until Lofn ended it.

"What you showed me is sorcery, which it would be a proof that you surrendered yourself to the madness of the Warp, yet you don't seem crazier than the average human psyker. But I know Mom and she hates humans with your type of powers."

"I don't blame her if she wants to kill me."

"I need to know that you are not one of them."

"How?"

"Why did you kill the redemptionists? Just the first reason in your head." The mind of Ranger began to cloud in images of the battle, forcing him to ignore the gunfire and screams until he found what started it in the first place.

 _"Anyone who wants to join our_ just _cause shall be welcome as brothers and sisters, but those who tries to resist the Truth of Redemption will be punished for heresy like the rest of the scum tonight!"_

 _"That last photo...it was my mother's people..."_

"...They wanted to kill everyone…I faced cultists before…and it did not take much conclude they would be here eventually…I may be a monster, but I can't let other monsters cause havoc when I can do something about it, even it is just killing them."

"But you like to kill."

"…I did eventually, but I would rather out an end to it. Die with my family, as a human again."

"You are not a monster. I can tell it."

"And you are too naive, kid. Once you parents arrive, I will be in my own way. I don't think we both can convince your mother to spare me."

"They should be clo-"

A great explosion nearby shocked the house.

"What now?" Growled Ranger at the sound.

* * *

The Taurox is considered one of the most powerful carriers both the Imperial Guard and the Tempestus Scions can use in the hour of duty; while not as robust as a Chimera, its twinlinked Autocannons put either in its sides or as a turret above, its fast and amphibious quad tracks and its imposing size made it ideal to transport heavy infantry, a shock weapon against the Emperor's foes and a brutal asset of counterattacks. In this mission the Stormtroopers counted with the Prime pattern; stronger plates, bigger gun loadout and faster tracks makes it essential to bring the fury of the Militarum Tempestus. Since this mission was to destroy a child psyker xeno, a good old-fashioned Gatling gun may be considered overkill to those less enlightened, but years serving in the Inquisition showed the wisdom in the saying 'walk softly and carry a big gun'.

"Squad Phobos, what's the status? Over." The man who connected the Tempestus inside the vehicle with the Inquisitor's will spoke trough the vox.

"Tempestor Prime Altdorf reporting, nothing worth mentioning so far, over." The soldier responded. He had the Taurox and ten men strong of the best Stormtroopers of the Sector, all to kill one child xeno.

"Be advised, there are reports of possible redemptionists survivors in the area, along with the unknown witch who destroyed them; while it is not your primary objective, if you see him Inquisitor Montag wants him alive, due at the same reasons of our intervention at the conflict in Vactis IV." Altdorf nodded, knowing some of those men were in this very planet, probably aiding to put down the current rebellion.

"Understood Command, over and out." The Tempestor Prime turned to his men. "Very well lads, it is time we finally put this abomination out of the Emperor's sight, lest we repeat an incident like the "hugger" Carnifex." They nodded as they prepared their hellguns.

"Tempestor, there are sightings of possible hostiles." The driver warned as he saw a group of redemptionists getting closer to their position, probably unaware of the fate of their fellows. "Should we engage them?"

"Negative, even they are not stupid enough to-"

"THOSE SOLDIERS WORK FOR THE HERETICS! KILL THEM!" The renegade cultists opened fire on the Taurox, but since their weapons were only stubs, at most it scratched the paint from the vehicle. The driver turned to point the cultists and returned their greeting in kind, turning this mob into more paste for the carrion.

"Keep your eyes open, they must be watching us" Tempestor Prime Altdorf thought for a moment if that little fight might alert the abomination, only for a rocket fly above the Taurox Prime. "We lost the element of surprise! Men, get out and purge these madmen!" The squad got out of the vehicle by its backdoor and opened fire at the redemptionists, lest they ruin even further their assignment.

A few hundred of matters away, Ranger and Lofn barely could see them in action.

"Should I-"

"No." Her voice is firm. "They may be here only to deal with the other bad guys."

"Do you know them?" He was curious.

"Stormtroopers, I think, they work for the former bosses of Dad. We better leave them alone." The Ripper appeared and looked at the soldiers with slight distaste.

"As you say." The slipgate marine muttered, his killing intent already getting sapped away by the aura and his common sense; if only it could also make the whispers go away too. Still, he decided to keep an eye on them while checking his weapons.

Somehow, both the pistol and the machine gun had new ammo, Ranger guessed that at this point it became an instinct to loot every bullet left in his rampages and after a quick order he now counted with six magazines and ten clips along with some spare bullets to deal with any hostile stupid enough to get close.

For their part, the Scions proved themselves far more disciplined that the Cult of Redemption, the former went in pairs, covering each other as they eliminate the latter's men in coordinated shots from their lasguns. The cultists fired back with their machine guns, but it barely phased the soldiers. Only the heavy guns and the bazooka managed to force them to fall back and regroup.

Ranger got out of the window in search of a sharpener for the fire axe, once he found it in the kitchen he went back at the window, only to realize the battle got away from his watch; perhaps the kid was right, and these guys were only there to mopping up what was left of the cultists. He then noticed the ripper looking at their former direction too with suspicion in its eyes.

"Do you think those guys might come for us?" Ranger asked, at which the animal looked at him with a face accusing him of being a complete fool. "Of course, they might…I have a feeling I will fight them soon enough."

 ** _Or it is your desire to fight them making itself manifest?_**

Ranger cursed at whatever made that question at him. He did admit he enjoyed the carnage he caused yesterday, but now he was in a realm where common sense should have a better grasp in it.

Besides, that kid was the first friendly face in a long time, se he better starts to behave like a human should, lest it gives her parents an excuse to frag him to oblivion.

* * *

"All rebel hostiles are purged. Over." Tempestor Prime Altdorf informed as he put the last shot into the cultist's heart. It seemed that Fate itself was making sure to slow down the execution of the cursed spawn that was driving the Inquisitor mad. To be fair to Montag, the fact that there could be a human/xeno hybrid at all was an affront to the Holy Human Form that had to be corrected at once.

"Be advised," Mission Control spoke again. "Our servo-skulls discovered that the unknown witch is near your position, over."

"Should we try to capture him or just go to the Primary target and call it a day? Over."

"Only if you feel you can handle it, otherwise we can send reinforcements to your position, over."

"Negative, the lads can handle a confused witch and that little xeno turd. We will communicate once we assured our victory, over and out." The Tempestor Prime cut out communications then he turned forward his men. "I know this is not the kind of glorious combat we were trained for, but the inquisitor does not need to remind us why it's imperative to do this."

The other Stormtroopers said nothing, all aware of both the necessity and the pettiness of this mission. Inquisitor Montag hated leaving any loose ends, especially those that seemed pitiful only to show their true colors. Still, their sense duty overcome their reservations. Without any word, Tempestor Prime Altdorf and seven of his men went towards the zone where they suspected both their targets resided, while the three soldiers left were tasked with guarding the Taurox from any looters. They advanced in pairs as before, making sure no one would notice their presence more than it was needed.

* * *

"They are coming for us." Lofn announced suddenly.

 _"No shit."_ Ranger's mind scoffed as he was preparing his weapons.

"Maybe we should wait for my parents to arrive."

"Or I could just go out and kill those bastards"

"These bad men know how to kill better than the redemptionists, their lasguns can pierce armor and flesh like is nothing, while your stub guns will not work against their carapace armor."

"Even this gun which blew up part of a corner?"

"That one it would take one magazine in the head."

"…You know a lot about guns for someone who doesn't like violence."

"My dad used to work for them…and mom is used to fight them."

"Anything else I should know about those soldiers?"

"That they are very mean." Ranger would have laughed if it wasn't for the severity of the situation.

"Trust me kid, I fought things meaner than them." After that little talk, Ranger gave one last look through the window and saw far away two pairs of stormtroopers aiming right at him; one pair in the window of the house in front of him while the other pair was lying in the ceiling of a bigger building; both clearly unwilling to move out of their positions, then he noticed Lofn hiding below a trapdoor making gestures to go there, which he followed.

* * *

"We lost visual contact with the package." One of the stormtroopers who was planted in the ceiling announced to his teammates. "Should we get inside?"

"Not yet." The Prime murmured. "Tell two of your lads to move positions and watch for any way in we might have missed." With a signal, the receiver gave the order to move out of the house at the pair inside it, which they followed with haste. The men in the ceiling kept their eyes on the other pair as they moved forwards the streets. They lost visual contact with them when their allies went inside an alley at their right.

"Do you see anything?" The men in the ceiling asked to his squad mates.

"Two doors at the left, one window at the right and a sewer cover in the front. Sending images for analysis." They pressed a button and the images appeared in the HUD of the rest, even those guarding the Taurox Prime. It didn't take much until the Prime's judgment.

"Check the sewer." The pair followed suit, yet the one who opened it saw nothing beyond a large hole and stairs while the other kept watch.

"Are you sure, Tem-" The complaint was suddenly interrupted by the sound of dismemberment and blood boiling, with the stormtrooper watching in horror at a man in yellow armor covered in the blood of his pair; armed with a fire axe and a stub pistol in his hands, with a stub machinegun in the back; the stormtrooper raised his hellgun but the stranger shoots him in the head which disorient the scion, followed by a strong kick which push him down the sewer, forwards a painful death.

"Jackal and Sidonius are KIA!" The scion in the roof shouted. "It was the package!" They all saw their last moments of both through the HUD.

"Hold your positions and stay in overwatch." Tempestor Altdorf gave the order. "The orders with the package is now shoot to kill." Inquisitor Montag would not like this, but it was clear this witch had no honor and he along the hybrid abomination had to be purged for mankind's sake.

It was a good they were not working together as far as he knew.

* * *

"Well, shit." Ranger commented as he looked at the seemly big hole. "I needed those magazines. At least the laser of that other bastard is still in one piece." Indeed, the hellgun of the telefragged soldier was ready for action, but with only the magazine inside available. He sighed and went to close the window which he came from and then he made a call. "Two down. How many were they again?"

"Between ten to fifteen." Lofn spoke trough the tiny vox she put in Ranger's ear. "Did you close the window? Over."

"Yes, I did." He rolled his eyes. It was less to cover his tracks and more to avoid other two houses and their owners to be caught in the cross-fire (Even if there wasn't anybody there). "Where are the rest of 'em?"

"There are still two in the roof, but I can't see the rest." The marine put the hellgun in his back along the machine gun. "And don't forget to say 'over' when you finish."

"Why?"

"That's what the adult soldiers always say, over."

"Look somewhere else, because they are next…over." Ranger could feel both the annoyance of to be reminded of proper military conducted by a kid and the so-called Warp flowing through his body and attempting to overwhelm him, which made him glad that directing it to summon the Dire Orb instead was as easy as breath. He saw the two jackassess in the rooftop, who opened fire at the sight of him. With the Orb still in hand, he grabbed the sewer tape with the other one, which was big enough to cover his torso and head (and of course, it had a skull in the front).

He run out of the alley which draw fire from the scions, shots blocked by the sewer tape were responded by the Dire Orb which moved Ranger to the rooftop, eldritch energy pushing aside the enemy pair almost near the borders at opposite sides. One of the scions reacted just in time to avoid a barrage of stub fire and returned with his las-shots, yet they failed to aim true. Ranger unloaded an entire magazine of the machine gun and it hit the target, but just as Lofn warned, it did not cause enough damage to perforate the armor. The other scion charged behind him, but Ranger whacked him with the blunt end of the axe, only receive lasfire in the front chest from the first scion and falling in his back.

"Witness yo-" The head of the stormtrooper melted as Ranger responded with lasfire from his own Hellgun, then turning to finish off the other soldier by blasting his head away too as he was getting up. He touched his chest armor looking for any wounds, luckily the were only three hard hits in it that were cooling off. Had two of those landed in the same place, it would be his own guts the ones melting away in the floor.

 _"Fucking lasers."_ Ranger had been shot countless times by the damned Railguns in the Arena Eternal, and this Imperium already knew how to make them automatic. At least now he could respond them in kind. "Four down, where are the others?" He called Lofn as he looted the magazines from the dead bodies. "Over."

"I found another pair of stormtroopers going below you. I think they know it is you who is killing their friends. Over."

"I see them." Ranger confirmed. "There's also a trio of their allies near a vehicle with a pair of guns stuck with their doors. Over."

"I always found that car a bit dumb, over."

"Agreed. Find the last pair, I will get the truck for last." Ranger cut the communication, then opened it again. "Over and out." And then he closed it at last. He prepared again the Dire Orb to take down the soldiers below in the street, and as he threw it the scions realized the danger and run away while giving suppressing fire at Ranger's current position. The orb exploded in the floor without harming anyone and Ranger has lost the pair, so he decided to go down the old-fashioned way, using the stairs inside the building.

Unknowing to him, the stormtroopers had the inverse idea and went upstairs in the same house to fight the rogue psyker and avenge their comrades. The building seemed to be an apartment, and if the shouts above them were of any clue, their foe was making no effort to conceal himself between the citizens who were not obeying the curfew properly. Still, they would deliver proper punishment after they kill the psyker.

 **"PISS OFF!"** Ranger scared the onlookers away, men and women who looked they were used to misery, cursing again the fact he could not speak their language instead of whatever the hell was the eldar tongue (despite the fact his mind was still convinced he was speaking English). The only thing the humans here could understand from him was rage and killing intent, and that shout made his message clear enough, but not soon enough to disperse everyone when the next pair of stormtroopers arrived and opened fire at him in the corridor, which Ranger responded by dropping gut down to the floor to avoid the las-shots.

It was both the professionalism of the scions and some dumb luck that no civilians were harmed, but now Ranger lacked any cover and he could not fire more than a few las-shots of his own before the scions retreated to their end of the passage. The hostiles realized their advantage and one of them opened suppressing fire while the other threw two frag grenades once he was sure Ranger was immobilized. The marine was still on the floor, but he quickly noticed a door barely opening by some clueless onlooker, so as he heard the pin of the frags coming out, he fired the Dire Orb forwards the door, teleported there, opened the door with brute force, pushed the onlooker inside and shut the door just before the grenades exploded in the hall.

Ranger sighed in relief at his renewal survival and the fact the fool who unknowing saved his life was now unconscious. As he was smirking at the sounds of the scions cursing their failure, he heard a sound from his earpiece and so he opened the communications.

"I am bit busy kid." Ranger muttered as he heard the pair of soldiers getting closer. "Over."

"Mister, I found the last pairs," A hard was heard in the other signal. "and they are at the door here!"

 _"Shit!"_ He had to end this skirmish quickly. "Hold on, I'm coming soon."

"Please come before they find me, over and out." And she cut down the vox communication, as Ranger noticed his pursuers also trying to break the door he used as refuge. He reloaded the hellgun, then put it in his right hand. Ranger then put the machinegun in his left hand. Dual-wielding was not exactly his forte.

 ***CRACK***

That door would not las long, so in an instinct from a better man, Ranger put the unconscious civilian out of the sight of the door, then he moved a table and kicked it, making it a decent cover.

 ***CRACK***

"We found the refuge of the Primary target," Tempestor Prime Altdorf's voice. "Get out of your position and regrou-" The voice was cut by the two vengeful scions.

 ***CRACK***

"You will die here, heretic!" Shouted one of the tempestus, no longer containing his hatred as he and his teammate pounded the door.

 ***CRACK***

"Bring it." As Ranger finished the whisper, the door's lock was broken, and two barrages of lasers blasted the place apart, leaving the living and the table full of burned holes. The hellguns ran out of shots and the stormtroopers were changing their battery magazines when a monstrous snarl vibrated the room.

"What in the Emperor's nam-"

"My turn, assholes!" Ranger was hiding in another door, he jumped out of it and opened fire at the pair, being close enough to both guns managed to hit their targets, the hellgun burning the armor and guts of the right soldier when the machinegun stunned his teammate long enough to aim the former at him and turn his insides into paste too. He ran as he reloaded both guns and put the machinegun in his back until he found a window where could see the last two pairs of stormtroopers kicking the door of the house he was residing and going inside while shouting what sounded like death threats.

"Nowhere left to hide, abomination!" Shouted Tempestor Prime Altdorf as he inspected the house with the last three scions disponible, leaving only one soldier left guarding the Taurox. "Your sinful existence ends here!"

Lofn was below the floor, scared and hugging Ripper as she heard the soldiers above tearing everything apart in their zeal. She prayed once again for her parents to arrive and save her from the bad men.

"Damn it, damn it!" Cursed Ranger, who in a hurry crushed the window with the butt of the hellgun, relented for a moment until the Dire Orb formed in his hand. "Fuck it!" He hurls it forwards the door of the hideout, the eldritch energy coming out of the tele transportation alerting the scions inside.

"Witch sighted, purge it!" The Tempestus opened fire at Ranger, who ducked and fired at the head of the closest scion, blasting his head off.

"Throw some frags!" The Stormtroopers obeyed the Tempestor's will, the explosives bouncing the floor to deliver inquisitorial judgment to their foe. They could already see the enemy trying to get out of the refuge, only to be torn up the shrapnel while they were safe behind cover, two in the couch and Altdorf in the kitchen.

Little they knew, combat in the Dreamlands of the Elder Gods and the Arena Eternal of the Vadrigar common sense was a drawback.

Ranger ran forwards the scions instead of retreating, seemingly ignoring the frag grenades below him, until he steps on the last two, and in what should had torn apart his legs and foots, instead the explosion pushed him to the air and forwards the scion of his left, tackling him and crushing his internal organs from the impact.

Despite the pain, Ranger quickly turned around to blast Altdorf, missing the shot because the other scion jumped at him, knife in hand striking in the unarmored arms and the face of the psyker, slashing in the former enough times to force him to drop the Hellgun. Altdorf could not get a clear shot between the melee.

 _"They keep trying, over and over again."_

Realizing the lack of guns, Ranger's right hand moves forwards the fire axe.

 _"But they will_ **never** _break me!"_

Painted in its own blood, Ranger's arm strikes with the axe, landing a horizontal cut in the eyes of the scion, leaving him blind. The pain forced Ranger to release the axe, with it stuck in the stormtrooper's face, now helpless and screaming for dear life. Ranger barely managed to get up as he saw the blind scion hitting a wall, pushing the axe further in the brain long enough to put him out of his misery.

"Oi! Suzy!" He turned aside, receiving a strong hit in the face from the butt from Tempestor Prime Altdorf's hellgun, downing him, followed by a stomp in the face and a spit from the last stormtrooper.

Altdorf praised the Emperor for giving him the chance to put the double-cursed psyker at this downed state, even if it costed the lives of all his men but the one soul guarding the Taurox Prime. He could see in the eyes of the fallen witch the hatred at his incoming execution. Altdorf grinned as he aimed at the head, ready to finish this off.

"SKREEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"

Ranger saw in his blood-tainted eyes a white blur landing at the neck of Altdorf, followed by the sound of flesh being torn apart, the white blur going inside, the neck of the Tempestor Prime spraying blood in the living room, the victim incapable of screaming as he turned around repeatedly, until he fell dead to the floor, eyes wide open. Out of the great hole in the neck came the little maggot thing called Ripper, who was now spitting the remains of the neck with an almost comical annoyance in its face.

"Remind me…to not piss you off." Ranger spat some blood out of his mouth as he raised from the ground, forcing himself to not fall again. He heard a door open and looked at Lofn stunned at the onslaught that just ended. "Hey kid, they won't hurt you now." He noticed the hybrid was now wearing a backpack and another hat that covered her pointy ears.

She snapped back to reality and she looked at Ranger while avoiding the dead bodies. "Mister, thanks for arriving, but we must get out of here."

"And was I beginning to like this place…lead the way then." He snarked as he walked slowly to retrieve his hellgun and fire axe, then he heard some whispers from one of the dead scions.

"Oh no…" Lofn heard them too, one of the scions was talking barely in High Gothic.

"…Prime down…barrage to my position…the Emperor protects." Then he looked at the thrice-cursed psykers, insane grin behind his mask. "We all die in His name..."

"Run!" Lofn grabbed Ranger's wrist and quickly both ran away from their now former refuge, Ranger barely understanding anything beyond the need to survive at all cost. They managed to run one block when the sounds of dropping missiles covered the middle hive, followed by earsplitting explosions. Both fugitives knew where it hit.

"What her parents did to anger those assholes so bad?" It has been a long time since Ranger was at the receiving end of proper air attacks and he was not in the mood of be fragged again from above.

"Mister, do you remember where the vehicle was?"

"Two blocks to the right…then straight to the-" Familiar chants interrupted him, and it was the coming of worse news.

"Redemptionists?" She could see them, the last straglers of the horde of maniacs who were still trying to torch the Hive City to the ground, and they seemed to recognize them.

"There he is!" One of them pointed at Ranger. "He is the witch who murdered our beloved Redeemer!" The mob screamed in zealous rage and charged at the pair.

"Follow me." Whispered Ranger, who wounded and tired as he was, he still sprinted forwards the direction of the Taurox Prime as he fired the machinegun at the cultists pursuing him and the kid. The sudden death of their friends froze the cultists in their tracks, giving Ranger and Lofn enough time to get out of their sights and forwards the Taurox, their now only possible mean to escape this doomed place.

* * *

Tempestus Scion Amodeus rediscovered fear.

He was no Adeptus Astartes, but for him fear was something left in the past since the days of the Schola Progenium, where he spent most of his childhood since his parents died heroically holding the line against the tide of the foul greenskins. That place had no room for mercy, so Amodeus inspired by the tales of the Space Marines, forsook the fear that held him back since birth, which made him worthy to join the Tempestus Scions. He proved the Emperor his worth by slaying hundreds of aliens, traitors and heretics in the worsts battlefields was given to him; places that would had make simple guardsmen desert their post at the mere thought of it. After a costly battle against a warband from the traitor Alpha Legion and the Planetary Governor they brainwashed, he was granted with direct service with the Ordo Hereticus, serving as part of a Kill Team to purge the traitors within without breaking the illusion to the citizens that there was nothing to worry about their betters. Many times, he fought in silent wars all over the sector, where a misstep spelled the damnation of countless planets in a second, yet he never met fear, because his faith was enough.

Yet he saw everything, how the rogue psyker who Inquisitor Montag showed sudden interest slaughtered all his comrades in arms, how quickly he fell to the whims of the xeno hybrid they were hunting and how even at the Gates of Death he kept fighting. He was the last one of the Command Squad and he could feel him coming.

"Scion Amodeus to Inquisitorial Command, I am the last survivor of my squad, requesting immediate evac. Over." Despite everything, this mission was supposed to be top secret, so help from everyone else was forbidden.

"Inquisitorial Command here. How you managed to fail? Over." The voice was not raising his voice, and Amodeus dared not guess how many Kill Team went before his.

"Tempestor Prime Altdorf divided us in pairs to hunt the Primary Target with me left guarding the Taurox Prime, but they were killed down by the optional package who is in league with the Primary. Not even a barrage could put them down. Over."

"So soon…" The Inquisitor will not be pleased. "Hold your position. Evac by Valkyrie will arrive in five minutes. Over and out." Amodeus sighed, five minutes alone inside a Taurox that could only shoot in the front. He was preparing to calm himself down by breathing when he saw the bloodied face of the soldier witch behind this disaster. His yellow and brown helmet was soiled with the blood of faithful soldiers, yet behind the mask of hatred and spite his face that showed nothing but tiredness. And that moment of pity cost him dearly, because he failed to notice a small white monster managed to get inside the Taurox and jumped at his neck, quickly biting apart the armor between and the flesh, crossing the flesh and eating the bones connecting his back with his cranium, killing him at last. The deed done, the 'worm' went to the bottoms of the vehicle and pressed everything until one bottom unlocked the side doors.

Ranger and Lofn went inside quickly the vehicle, the former going directly to the driver seat, grabbing a handful of grenades and magazines, and kicking the dead stormtrooper outside the transport; while the latter went to the rear, looking for anything useful there and stay away of the smell of Ripper's latest victim.

"So….do you know how to drive this truck?" She asked at the marine, who was immobile in the seat, despite the howling from the redemptionists outside.

"Where is the key?" He muttered, his eyes tired and the wounds starting to paint him up. Lofn grabbed the medikit the Tempestus left inside and quickly began to clean and patch Ranger's arms with bandages, him more focused in the front, where the remaining cultists were aiming at the Taurox with their stub guns and the occasional lasgun.

 _"The driver is dead! % &$*, take his place and get us out of this blasted jungle!"_

Just as the hybrid finished the right arm, Ripper managed to find the lost keys. Yet the redemptionists got closer and surrounded the vehicle.

 _"To where?! The HQ, dumbass! Victor Charlie has taken over the entire city!"_

Just to be sure, Lofn took care of the of the left arm, ignoring all shots and hits bouncing in the armor of the Taurox.

 _"What do you mean this thing doesn't run?! We're fucked if we don't get out of here!"_

"Mister! Wake up!"

 _"% &$*! Fix this shit before I kill yo-"_

"SHUT UP, SARGE! I GOT IT!" Ranger shouted and grabbed the keys. "At the count of three, I will open fire and drive us away from Victor Charlie. Three…"

"Victor Charlie? What in the Warp are-"

"Two..." Ranger inserted the key, putting the motor in action.

"I don't like where this is going." Lofn quickly putted her seatbelt and grabbed Ripper as tight as she could.

"One…" He gritted his teeth and putted his hand in the gearshift.

The cultists' shouts were meant to shatter the minds of those inside, yet the marine's one was focused in one objective since decades and not them or their god would distract him from it.

"FIRE!" Ranger pressed a bottom near the handle, which activated the Taurox's minigun, blasting apart those in the front too slow to run away. He then moved the gearshift accordingly and stepped on the accelerator.

The Taurox Prime moved quickly and crossed above the remains of the cultists, its driver not caring of hitting some of their kin or those few who had the foolish idea of grab the Inquisitorial carrier. Their remains were not pretty.

"We lost them." Grinned Ranger, his mind enjoying victory at least against these elite soldiers.

"Who the hell is Victor Charlie?!" He just remembered that Lofn was at his right, angry at his conduct in the last part of this escape.

"An old army I fought when I was a human, before I faced Quake and turned into this." He sighed, it was the first time his mind clouded in middle of combat, using his own memories too. "Tell me where we must go first, then I can tell you more."

"Ok, but if you act like that again I will sic Ripper at you." Lofn was not in the mood to deal with more madness for this day.

"Yes sir…and tell him thanks for saving my ass from that bastard."

* * *

An aircraft with the symbol of the Inquisition arrived just in time to watch the stolen transport leave the deranged redemptionists behind. The pilot went to communicate with the Inquisitor.

"Falcon Omega, the Taurox Prime is leaving without your orde-"

"It's because the little verminspeaker got the package as its new thrall, who then killed all Command Squad!" The voice of Inquisitor Montag was full of hatred, having watched how everything went wrong and hoping that the God Emperor punished the Tempestus Scions for their hubris and failure.

"Should we follow them? Over." The crew would not say their own doubts to their Lord.

"Negative, I will send Vulture squadrons to take care of them if they go to one of the main highways." The inquisitor was also remebering to not let such fine equipment get looted by underhive rabble. "Reinforcement will secure the area and you must give them areal support. The Governor will think this is just more mundane purging."

"Understood Inquisitor, His will be done." They said relieved for those orders.

"Do not contact me directly until you succeed in your duty. Inquisitor out." Montag cursed again, this warrior proved to be an unexpected headache, and there was no doubt that the cursed xeno hybrid has now put him against the Will of He on Terra and the Inquisition.

"Need us, Boss?" He noticed a gruff voice entering the room, he looked a pair who would not look out of place in any crack team made of guardsmen, but now they were his only hope to stop this blasphemy.

"Sarge, Nathan Grunt. Tell me what do you know about this 'Ranger' fellow and how to stop him."

* * *

 **And done. Answer time!**

 **sonic: Thanks.**

 **yo99: Here I have more.**

 **Guest: Trust me, Ranger will need update his gear to survive the new Millenium.**

 **View and Review please.**


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